Nat and his brother will be running the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon in memory of his mum

Meet Nat. He will be running the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon in partnership with Clarion on Sunday 11^th May. 

Nat’s amazing mum unfortunately passed away after a brave but futile fight against cancer in December 2022. Nat signed up for the Leeds Marathon before she knew she was poorly with his brother. “You are both mad!” she said weeks below she was suddenly rushed to the hospital. It was a massive shock to them all.

Nat said, “I am not ashamed to say that I cried at the start of the marathon as I waited to begin. I am also not ashamed to say I cried at various points when I saw the banners & shirts saying, “doing it for Mum.”.

Grief is a very personal thing, and many people do marathons for great causes, but James, his brother, and Nat do it out of a sense of love and remembrance for their mum. They both saw the pain she went through and the incredible stoicism she maintained to be strong for her family even though she was terminally ill.

In the aftermath of their 2024 marathon, they both said they would never take part in another marathon. They wanted to take part in the Leeds Half Marathon in 2025. Five days later, they both spoke on the phone and signed up for the 2025 full marathon! A half effort is simply not an option for them both. Nat said, “It’s not about achieving a set time. It’s about doing it in memory of our mum.”

They loved the support all along the route. Nat and James will be doing it for as long as they both can and as they approach their third effort, we all know that our mum was right “You are both mad!”

We cannot wait to see Nat and James at the start line this year and hope many other marathons in the future.